among the highest in art cap ta where cities are making tough budget decisions and cutting the arts and at the state level, california is at the bottom of the 50 states in terms of funding for the arts. so to be in a city where the arts are as important to be heard here at government audit and oversight committee is a testament to the fortune we have to the commitment of arts and culture as a core value and part of the core solution over all challenges we face of the city and the celebration of the city. i think to start there i think it's a great honor to serve in my role and work on some of these challenges ahead of us. >> president farrell: just one question. san francisco does very well compared to other california cities but california does poorly to other states. the first finding we're asked to comment on is that we develop

more than any other municipality in the u. s. do you know where we stand in there hasn't been a comprehensive analysis from what you've seen. >> yes. i want to clarify. we were asked to either agree, disagree partially, or disagree wholly by the instructions. in terms of the cup half full or empty when we disagree partially you can interpret that as a green partially. in terms of finding one, we just do not have the teat before us. there had not been a comprehensive data set. we would wanted to have a methodology to know what numbers we are looking at. san francisco is in terms of per capita funding arts is one of the highest in the country which is a great honor for our city. so with that i want to speak on a high level of of what the role of the report will be in terms of organizational change and

improvement at the arts commission and then i'll at a high level go through some talking points in each of the five areas that we heard about in the report. upon receipt of the report -- good afternoon, supervisor. and so upon kind of going through the process and receiving the report staff took considerable time reviewing the recommendations and the findings in the report. we spent a number of management meetings where managers of each program workshopped responses in terms of what policy implications they might have. since then we have flushed out recommendations and brought them forward to the arts executive committee where we went through every finding and every recommendation. then the executive committee took it to the full commission at the october 1 full commission meeting, to the full commission then had the opportunity to dive deeply as well and answer any questions, ask any questions of me or of staff or of each other in terms of the policy

implications. i think the most important next step will be moving forward in a comprehensive community engagement and strategic planning process. one of the things the arts commission has faced is lack of articulated plan that was developed for and by the community at large. so we are committed, and are in the process of beginning a very comprehensive strategic planning and community engagement process, that i think will address a lot of the issues around community engagement for instance in our cultural centers. one of the deliverables for that planning process will be a 10 year capital plan for all of the arts commissions assets including our four cultural center buildings as well as the civic art collection you hear about in the report. we know for years we have struggled to find resources we need to adequately care for the art collection. this is a challenge throughout the city in terms of our capital needs so we are similar in that regard but i think a 10 year

capital plan will be a great advantage for us in terms of planning and staffing and responding to some of the recommendations you see here. so we're excited to begin that process and have the community voice involved and to help directing how the arts commission moves forward. so with that, i will go through kind of some high level responses in each of the five categories. >> quick question. it talked about civil grand jury talked about the concept or the notion of finding outside sources of funding. and stop me if you're going to already address this in your responses. but just wanted to get your temperature for it. you're new in the role or somewhat new at this point. obviously we are still from a budget perspective, challenging economic time as a city and will be in the foreseecia foreseecia. i know a lot rely certainly on outside sources. how do you view that in terms of

the arts commission and your assets? >> i think that's a great question and a very astute finding in the focus of this. it is a complex area. so the arts commission has a development director dedicated to raising private resources. i think for a department our size we have been successful -- and i'm looking for the exact number, but over the past five years, i believe we've raised close to 4.9 million, from feder funding sources, from the national endowment for the arts, california arts council, which is the last large fund, and copartnered with a partnership with the -- dedicated to raising funds. just this year we got 60,000 from the key pairing foundation and that was coupled with some private donations.

we're embarking with another gallery which will be a fundraiser for art care. so i think we have done a lot in terms of public-private partnership. i think the challenge is we need to be cautious how much we fundraise at a city department who also grants to our nonprofit arts ecosystem. so we are a grant maker and our community of artists who struggle in this economy look to us to fund them. and when we go to the private foundation sector that they also go to, to ask for dollars, there's no way for them not to see it as competition because it is. so i think it's a delicate balance about how we look to public-private partnership. and i think there are unique ways in which we can fundraise and partner with the private sector to bring in new dollars that we wouldn't otherwise see in the arts ecosystem but we have to be cautious about how we go about that so we don't tap resources that are non-art

programs. and as arts funding has decreased we want to be cautious that they see us as the grant-maker. they would love to see greater dollars coming to them through city funding. we want dollars that are in non-competition to our non-profit. so in the broader category of governance, some of the feedback in terms of the structure of the commission and now i've developed a biased of nine months, 10 months on the job i really feel this is a structure, this arts commission governance structure that built coit tower. this can work for us. this has been a governance structure that has worked throughout the 80 years of the commission. it has recently struggled. we've seen some challenges. i'm committed to proper education of commissioners so when they come on board they get the information they need. i think the real challenge has been an issue of transparency,

of leadership, of communication between the director of cultural affairs and the commissioners. and i mentioned in this a recommendation. the president and vice president and myself now have monthly meetings where we go through any detailed level policy issues, we prepare for commission meetings, we grapple with policy issues. so i'm dedicated to keeping that line of communication open. i think -- accountability. how does a governing body establish accountability. i've asked for a 360 performance review so commissioners are getting information about my performance from parties other than myself which will be important to assuring accountability. i think the commission is well aware that there have been challenges and on their watch they are responsible for the future of the arts commission. with these recommendations in mind we're moving forward. with the mayor's office we

brought on two new commissioners, one is a chairman and ceo of ymca, another is the development director of the lgbt center in san francisco, both come with business ak men. i think i need to address the issue of artists on the commission. i want to be cautious we don't promote the stereotype that they're not good finance people. our commission president is an attorney who practice law, is now a professor at san francisco art institute. so artists often have multiple skill sets just like business individuals or medical professionals, doctor doctors cn businesses. that's not to say we don't need it prepare commissioners well with the proper material and proper orientation and we don't need to look at the aggregate skill set. the mayor's office has been a

great partner in discussing the skill sets needed, and bringing the necessary skill sets to round out the 15 member commission. i'm confident we are on a positive path for it in that regard. in terms of other governance issues, i think to just look at the oversight function, we also have -- in terms of controller's review in november of 2011, i think there was a lot of findings in that controller's review about broader oversight and i'm happy to report since then the commission has completed successfully eight of the 12 recommendations made in that report which is a testament to how some of this new leadership and new systems in orientation and different ways in which we're improving our system at the arts commission are demonstrating change. i think we know there are a number of accountability mechanisms like the controller he a's office that will help us

to build appropriate systems. so maybe i'll open it up to questions if there are any on governance and move on to the specific art collection. >> president farrell: colleagues? >> on the specific art collection, i think we're excited that this issue has come to light. the arts commission has been challenged historically. >> supervisor chiu: i had one question around the idea of establishing a citizens advisory committee. in government we have over 100 citizen advisory committees which have an important purpose. do you think there's a need for a second committee related to what it is you do? >> i think the efforts might be best spent on friends of the arts commission, a fundraising body. one of the recommendations i thought was of value to us would be a development of friends of the arts commission similar to friends of the library. i think a body that would have an engagement, help build the clout of the agency, community advocates and individuals that

could help develop resources for the commission would be really important. i also think it's important that the arts commission continue to engage the community so that they use our system as a commission now in terms of attending our committee meetings. we have over approximately four to five public meetings a month with the commission. and so part of our reason not agreeing with the citizens advisory committee at this time is we feel like there is a mechanism that is not perhaps being used to its fullest capacity to engage the community and to ensure accountability appropriate for the commission. so i think at this time i would prefer a -- effort directed to the friends of the arts commission and how to better develop those resources there. >> supervisor chiu: thanks. >> so on the civic arts collection, it is one of the arts commission top priorities. it has been certainly a work in progress. i think it's important to note that when we talk about inventory, and i think there has been confusion around inventory,

inventory never ends so the art collection is a living body of art that moves from location to location, from different city buildings. admittedly there is a backlog. we have files that have not been entered. when we speak about the 18 month inventory which is starting this month we are about to make an offer to an individual who will come on board to help guide what is a backlog of the inventory as well as an updating of the database. but have also, as noted, brought on additional staff. last month we brought in a new director of the art staff. so a lot of challenged coo keeping up with ongoing -- related to staff capacity as well as some of the resources but it continues to be a top priority and we working with rec and park and throughout the city to properly establish an mou. we are open to that recommendation. we have been meeting with my staff and rec and park staff to

flush out the nuances of the public art in different locations. i think a successful example has been rec and park commitment of 250,000 to the restoration of the murals at coit tower. i think that's a sign of things to come, an example of the type of partner that is possible between city departments, the type of partner the mayor is stewarding and i'm committed to ensuring we have proper care for our art collection. >> two ments comments. i appreciate and my constituents appreciate the quarter of a million from your department. in the grand jury report your response states this recommendation will be implemented within a year and you are look being forward to clarifying this vis-a-vis an mou. is this subject to public -- on -- not something that needs to come before the board? >> yes. all major mous that the arts

commission engages in go before the commission. they go to executive committee. the public utilities commission, to define our relationship as well as our relationship on their new building and art contained within. that was herd at the executive committee of the arts commission. we took public comment there. then that was moved to the full commission. again another opportunity for public comment. so again i think as we define these mous they will be in the public and available for public comment and input. and i welcome that. i think it's important and i am so thrilled that we have dedicated citizens who care about our cultural assets. obviously i share that value or i wouldn't be in this job and our staff are committed to building on recent successes but also to improve based on recommendations we've seen here. >> supervisor chiu: i appreciate knowing that and as you are drafting an mou i would love when you have one that you would present to the public send

it to my office and let us know what the public schedule is. i think i have constituents within my district that would be interested in knowing more about that process. >> certainly. >> supervisor chiu: thanks. >> so in general, the civic art collection is a top priority and will be an ongoing priority. we are in conversations with capital planning to prepare for this budget cycle. on the capital front, while we were very successful this past year in obtaining a commitment of comat investment in our four cultural buildings we are working with capital planning to look at the 2% in art enrichment model. there is 5% in that legislation dedicated to use for conversation. it has been a challenge to use it because it is bound to a three year timeframe so we are looking at ways in it which to work with the bond attorneys to find the appropriate care and resourcing for the civic art collection.

i kind of have been talking about it as a social security fund for the civic art collection. while we can't use those dollars to pay right now for existing work, we're hoping to find a way that the current dollars could pay for those works that are now in need. we're committed to looking for a policy that will be long-term and make sure the art collection does not find challenges that way face today. the cultural centers we are committed as landlords to the cultural centers, and while we know that as landlords we have not always been the best landlords, especially in difficult financial time, we are very pleased that between the mayor's office of disability and the capital planning committee we have obtained over $3 million for significant capital improvements at all four centers. i think these improvements in the next two years will address what it is the civil grand jury here is identifying are some of the challenges.

these include new roofs, new ada accessibility, security issues, and i think we're thrilled to partner with our cultural center nonprofits to implement these capital ploossments over the next two years. the cultural centers -- the six cultural centers, we meet monthly so we hear their concerns at the staff level. and then at the commission level, the community arts education and grants committee oversees all of the performance of the cultural centers to their grant agreement. we just heard their end of year report and heard significant public comment about the performance of those nonprofits to the grant agreement, ensuring free and low cost access to all of our cultural centers. that said, we also plan, in the community engagement and strategic planning process, to engage the community more broadly in terms of future planning for those centers. we have also begun conversations

and have actually had significant conversations with the city attorney's office about lease agreements. i agree that i think a longer term agreements lease agreements would benefit our cultural centers. we know they can not be longer than 99.9 years. the lease agreement has to tie to a grant agreement. to have a tenant in that building there needs to be a dedicated revenue source for them. our cultural centers rely on the grants that are made to them. we will need to consider the term of the lease agreement with what we can offer in terms of a grant agreement. we're looking at agencies like dcyf that offer multiple year leases and i hope we can find a happy medium between a longer term lease agreement in alignment with what we can offer. we're also interested in supporting our cultural center tenants in terms of their

accessing private dollars. so any way our staff can support them as they look for lease hold improvement dollars we're committed to doing so. moving on to the -- >> before you move on i want to have i guess a brief discussion on the cultural centers. from what i've seen in my four years funding to the cultural centers have been challenged approximate of we want to rebuild our roads, parks, playgrounds and schools, it's often hard to find money on the capital side. just taking capital issues for a moment have you thought about other sources? you talk about public-private fundraising. do you have a budget of exactly how much you're looking to raise for all these different centers? >> yes. so we have a lot of different assessments that have been done both in the past and in recent years and those will be the basis for the 10 year capital plan that i spoke of.

so that plan will then define the specific prioritized capital needs for the cultural centers over the 10 year period and put them in order of priority. right now the assessments stand not in context to one another or in context to the needs of the civic art collection so the goal is put them in concert with one another in terms of resources. i think we're committed through the art care program but also in partnering with the private sector and i think capital improvements is a great opportunity. i've recently met with some sill an throw piflghts who have been involved with the friends of the arts commission about capital needs in the past so i think there's great opportunity in terms of bringing in private dollars to supplement what we might find through capital planning. i think again a lot of traditional fundraising model, naming rights, as we move

through challenging check times so we will have to grapple with those issues saying a corporate individual who want to make a large capital gift but would like the recognition to be named, those would be the issues that we would look at in strategic planning to make sure we build the greatest amount of access and greatest resources for our capital improvements but doing so in a responsible way. >> earlier this year we worked with your office to pass some loosening of restrictions around the 1% art fee that comes from construction of buildings downtown. is there a way to tap into that money? >> absolutely. we're in the process of developing draft guidelines for the public art trust in the c3 district in those parcels that were added in recent legislation. thank you to the board of supervisors for your support of that and to president chiu for your leadership on that. i think it will be a great opportunity. we're meeting with both the

nonprofit art community as well as doaverttle. we are discovering geographic restrictions, and their interest in seeing those dollars going in proximity to the development but there is great promise for that to be a resource in those geographies and for programming of the nonprofits in the c3 and who would service the c3, but also hopefully for our cultural centers located in those geographies. >> for members of the public who may not be aware, we have had for a number of decades that requirement for new buildings 1% of their buildings cost used to be required to go to essentially lobby art, art that physically exists on the premises of one of these buildings. what we did earlier this year was loosened the requirement so that money could go to the arts within a geographic range fairly close to the downtown c3 area.

from my perspective, if there needs like this that we need to and are i would be open to further amending my legislation to do that but i hope we will see additional dollars getting out to community based organizations and these cultural centers. >> certainly. the legislation allows it to be used for capital investments in terms of activation so there is a lot of flexibility in how those funds can be used. i'm hopeful it will be a new source of funds for nonprofits and in general art capital across the city. >> supervisor chiu: a final question on the operating side of the can you recallal center budgets. how do you think about balancing the needs of day-to-day operations or year-to-year operations for cultural centers versus other as pecks of your budget? >> the cultural centers -- could i ask, is that for the cultural centers, their grant agreement? >> supervisor chiu: yeah. >> so we work with them on an

annual basis. currently it's an annualized grant where they set up a management performance plan where there are goals outlined for the year ahead. the grants are unrestricted and are not project specific. we feel in order to keep the centers -- this is one of the few sources they have that are not project specific but we hold them accountable for those mpp deliverables in terms of goals and outcomes. we're in our monthly meetings looking at those now to determine if they're appropriate and how can we perhaps develop more smart goals or attainable goal that we can at the commission level have clear method for accountability. what we're hearing is we want to have a clear structure so that everybody, the culturessal center, nonprofit tenant and art commission is clear on expectation but there is also a structure for accountability at the community level in terms of everybody who has access to

those buildings in the community locally that those buildings serve. >> supervisor chiu: thank you. >> moving on to the street artist program, just to address -- you know, we're making -- we've responded to the recommendation of the -- of the artist program and we would propose it remain at the arts commission. it is not our purview to decide that but we heard loud and clear from street artists with a 40 year history with the arts commission and who at two points in time, one a couple of years ago and now, signed a petition, i believe two years ago it was over 200 signatures, who felt they wanted artists overseeing the making of their work, that it was critical as arts people that the oversight function needs to be by other artists who understand that craft and the artistic value to that. most definitely these artists

are entrepreneurs. we celebrated their 40th anniversary this year. we helped develop banners out of our own general fund dollars to publish the street art programs and banners throughout the city, our communication staff not funded by the street artist fee supported that through broad marketing and got great props for the program. i think we're very open to partnering with the office of small business to improve the program and services we offer, in terms of supporting our artists as entrepreneurs. i like to think of the street artist program as precursor to the do it yourself movement and i think san francisco should be proud of our street artists that founded this program and i think the grand jury accurately points out there is not a united front, there are many diverse perspectives but it is important to note while there be have been 52 street artists referrals to

the sunshine task force came from approximately five street artist. if you look at the total we serve that is less than 2% who have expressed dissatisfaction with the program. so i want to make sure we emphasize there are a lot of street artists happy with the services of the art commission that feel we have been responsive to their need. this isn't to say we can improve. we can do better. our director has shown great leadership. i've met with the office of small business and would be open to looking at ways to improve those entrepreneurial services that the -- might be able to provide. >> it was unclear from the documented whether you disagree with moving the arts program to the office of small business. it sounds like you do. >> yeah. we disagreed with that recommendation in stating that we would not implement that recommendation. although i believe that may be

other parties involved in that final decision but it's our perspective that the street artist would best be served by continuing to be governed by artists. unless there are other questions on the street artist program i will move on to the symphony fund. so on a high level, the arts commission hasline pleased to have partnered with the san francisco simple thoan since 1935. i think it's a landmark that san francisco voted to institute a municipal symphony. in close advisement with the city attorney's office, we believe we are in complete compliance with the charter and the law. the path-through, the earmark like we have for the police department, the municipal earmark from the charter goes directly to the san francisco symphony in it's